Gardening with a Wild Heart: Restoring California's Native Landscapes at Home

I read this book about 5 years ago and have since given it to friends as a gift. I strongly encourage anyone interested in gardening, or in the natural world, to read her book!! Lowry has a real gift for nature writing, and for conveying her passion for restoration gardening. What is restoration gardening? We know what harm human development is doing to the natural world, but imagine if all the suburban homeowners, and corporations with campuses, were to garden with plants typical of their regions. That is Lowry's dream, poetically conveyed to us in this wonderful book. All the little yards with their little bits of natural environment would create a patchwork of native habitat and food for birds and other wild creatures, and if the patchwork got more and more connected as more people began gardening with regional plants, we would all be helping to restore at least a little bit of the natural world that we took away. Her book inspired me to re-landscape our yard in Southern California with all native California plants, and we've gone from having 1 or 2 species of birds to having more than 22 different species. And there are all kinds of little butterflies and other winged pollinators that I never saw before, and lizards galore. I noticed her book at just the right time -- when I was feeling like I was buried in the heart of sterile suburbs -- and it brought me joy to read, and continuing joy as I followed her example and now have a garden that feels right for California. Thank you, Judith Lowry!

I was hoping for in-depth strategies and practical guidelines, plotting, soil needs, and so on. Perhaps that's in here, somewhere, but reading this book is an exercise in teeth-gritting irritation. The word "lyrical" gets thrown around on the promotional testimonials, so perhaps I should have known better. Lowry can't deliver three sentences without inserting some quasi-spiritual eco-blather. She's on a quest to redeem and restore whatever wildlands she can, and that's fine, but I wasn't looking for discussions with small children, worried about humanity's rightful place on this precious orb we call Earth. I could not care less about her sculptor friends, her obviously very well-off clientele, or any other wistful asides that serve no purpose. It's just tiring, trying to find real instruction amidst all the ideology and humorless self-righteousness. I'm not a rightwing nutjob, I'm concerned with global warming, etc. etc., but this book would have about a third of the page count if you took the "lyrical" magic out of it. I'll stick with books by regular, perhaps non-enlightened human beings who offer regular, hands-on experience, minus the spiritual BS.

The founder and owner of Larner seeds in Northern California has a wonderful ode here to what's called "Restoration ecology," the idea that creating native habitat happens one backyard at a time. It's part meditation, journal, and practical implementation of her experience gathering and propagating native plants. It's more like sitting down with someone to hear about their experience with native gardening, not a reference book in the technical sense.

I was dissapointed when I recieved this book in the mail. I was expecting a native gardening guide book, with perhaps some photos of native plants, descriptions of how natives can be used in the garden and such. Instead I recieved a book warning of the enormous dangers of planting exotic, non native species in one's back yard. The book is heart felt and well written. If you are not convinced that planting natives is the way to go, you will be after reading this book. Unfortunatly, you probably won't be much further along in knowing how or which or where.

Great for understanding why it is important to go native with your yard, no matter if you are from California or New York. The restoration gardener does their small part in returning the land to a piece of what it was before we arrived.

This was a very good book referencing California Natives. I was a little disappointed in the fact that it focusses on California Coastal wild flowers.

Grow, live, study, befriend the species who've been where you are for eons and eons...since before humans were walking upright. Ya might learn something.

I have learned so much from this book and it will be my reference as I work with a large garden to be more earth friendly. Thank you!